There are actual differences between soy candles and paraffin wax candles, differences in their composition and differences in how these waxes are produced. Paraffin wax is the most common candle-creating wax. If you buy a candle that doesn’t specifically label it as a soy candle or a beeswax candle, chances are pretty high that you are purchasing a paraffin wax candle.

Paraffin wax is produced from crude oil. Waxes are separated out of crude mineral oils to form a heavy hydrocarbon that becomes paraffin wax. Crude oil comes from the ground and is a fossil fuel.

Soy wax is a vegetable wax made from the oil of soybeans. After soybeans are harvested, they are cleaned and converted into flakes. Soybean oil is then pulled from the flakes and hydrogenated. Soybean oil becomes a solid at room temperature, creating the soy wax used for soy candles, which we carry in a wide variety of fragrances.

There are some advantages and disadvantages of both paraffin candles and soy candles. One of these facts is that some sites claim that soy candles produce “no soot”. It is not true to say there is absolutely no soot produced by a soy candle. There is no such thing as a completely soot-free candle. Soy wax is all-natural and will not produce the thick black soot that you see on some paraffin containers, but soy candles do produce some soot. It’s important to remember that not all soot is black. Soot can be white or very light, and hard to see.